Network capacity redistribution with frequency re-use

ABSTRACT

Redistribution of network capacity in a network having a plurality of base stations is contemplated. The redistribution may include reallocating or otherwise reusing primary channels assigned to the plurality base stations to increase capacity proximate one or more of the base stations. The network capacity may be increased in this manner without having to add new base stations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/532,970, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,725,158 filed Jun. 26, 2012, the benefitand disclosure of which is claimed and incorporated in its entirety byreference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to managing network capacity, such as butnot necessarily limited to redistributing network capacity withfrequency re-use.

BACKGROUND

Bandwidth requirements across a geographical area can be very uneven. Abusy intersection, a commercial area or a special temporary event suchas a parade, a race or an outdoor community activity can generate ahigher demand on capacity resources. The cellular industry has addressedthis higher demand of capacity by adding more base stations and smallercell sites. Adding more cells is a practical solution when the increasein demand is expected to be constant. Sometimes, however, the change incapacity demand is more dynamic and sometimes it is difficult to placebase stations at optimum locations because of zoning restrictions oreven geographical impediments. Accordingly, a need exists to facilitatenetwork capacity redistribution without having to add permanent cellsites or other infrastructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a network-based system in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a coverage area of a cellular networkin accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of the method of redistributing networkcapacity with frequency reuse in accordance with one non-limiting aspectof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network-based system 10 in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention. The system 10 isillustrated for exemplary non-limiting purposes with respect to acellular network having a plurality of base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, Gconfigured to facilitate signal exchange with a mobile device 12, suchas but not necessarily limited to a cellular phone or a mobile computerhaving cellular capabilities. The illustrated cellular configuration maybe useful in facilitating cellular communications according to frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA),polarization division multiple access (PDMA), single-carrier FDMA(SC-FDMA) and/or time division multiple access (TDMA). The system 10 mayalso be configured to facilitate other types of wireless or wirelinenetworking, such as but not necessarily limited to supporting Wi-Fi,WiMax, etc. The plurality of base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G may beconfigured to facilitate upstream and downstream signaling by way of anaggregating unit 14 and a backbone network 16. The backbone network 16may exchange signals with other base stations (not shown) or other typesof endpoints (not shown). The signaling carried over the network 16 maybe sufficient to conduct voice communications, high speed dateexchanges, and other electronic services.

The base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G may be configured with one or moreantennas to facilitate wireless communications with the device 12 and/oreach other A, B, C, D, E, F, G. The antennas may be directional and/oromnidirectional. The aggregating unit 14 may be configured to facilitateupstream and downstream signaling between the backbone 16 and each ofthe base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and in some cases between thebase stations themselves A, B, C, D, E, F, G, e.g., such as when theoriginating and terminating endpoints of a phone call are in closeproximity to each other. The aggregating unit 14, the device 12, thebase stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and/or some other unit incommunication therewith may include a computer-readable medium havingstored therein code which when executed with a processor implement amethod of managing network capacity of the system 10 according to theoperations contemplated by the present invention. The aggregating unit14 is described for exemplary purposes as being tasked with managingnetwork capacity. It may achieve the contemplated management byinstructing or otherwise controlling the base stations A, B, C, D, E, F,G and/or the mobile device 12 to operate according to variouscommunication requirements.

The communication requirements may be used to specify channels (e.g.frequencies), timing, amplitudes, power levels, and etc. at whichsignals are to be exchanged between the base stations A, B, C, D, E, F,G and the mobile device 12. These parameters may be individuallydetermined for each of the base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G and/or themobile device 12 such that some base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, Gfacilitate signal communications according to a certain set ofparameters while others facilitate signal communications according to adifferent set of parameters. The present invention is described withrespect to specifying the various communication requirements relative tooperation of the plurality of base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G and onlya single mobile device. This is done with the understanding that similaroperations may be performed to facilitate concurrently controllingsignaling parameters for any number of base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, Gand any number of mobile devices 12. The present invention is alsopredominately described with respect to the base stations A, B, C, D, E,F, G and the mobile device 12 communicating in a bi-directional mannerwith simultaneous upstream and downstream signaling. This is done withthe understanding signaling parameters may be specified to facilitateone-direction communications, e.g., push-to-talk.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a coverage area 20 of a cellularnetwork in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The coverage area 20 illustrates a wireless range of theplurality of base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G shown in FIG. 1 and for aplurality of additional base stations. Each of the illustrated basestations corresponds with a center of one of the hexagons (thecorresponding coverage area is not necessarily hexagon in shape—it mayhave another shape or pattern). The base stations may be tasked withsupporting wireless signaling for a particular area proximate to it.FIG. 2 illustrates each illustrated base station being arranged intocells shaped as hexagons and having antennas sufficient to facilitatedividing the cells into 120° sectors where each sector of the same cellcorresponds with a different channel. The use of hexagon shaped cells isprovided for exemplary non-limiting purposes as the present inventionfully contemplates the base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G or otherwireless or wireline nodes used to facilitate signaling within thenetwork being arranged in a different manner and particularly withdifferent antenna shapes, types an configurations.

Each of the sectors is shown to include a reference numeral in order toindicate a wireless channel transmitted within that sector. Thenumerically represented channels may be characterized as a primarychannel of each sector, or more specifically, the channel for which thesector is to use for most if not all of its communications. Thecorresponding antenna may predominately facilitate communications overthe numerically represented channel. Each channel may correspond with aparticular frequency range or band of frequencies at whichcommunications are preferred. The channel assigned to each sector may bedetermined by the aggregating unit 14 or other network managemententity. The amplitude, power, and other signaling characteristicsassociated with the signaling of each sector may be similarly controlledby the aggregating unit 14 or other network management entity. Thechannel assigned to each sector may be determined according to certainsignaling characteristics in order to limit or ameliorate signaling fromone sector interfering or otherwise undesirably influencing signaling ofanother sector.

Each sector may be able to support a certain amount of signaling, whichmay be proportional to the activities of the mobile device(s) thatis(are) operating within that sector. If multiple mobile devices arebeing simultaneously used within a sector, that sector may experience acertain number of individuals attempting to make phone calls. Should thenumber of phone calls or other cellular dependent services consumed bythe individuals exceed a maximum or desired bandwidth, additionalresources may be desired in order to allow that overloaded sector tosupport additional services. One non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention proposes that in the event of such a shortage in capacity,instead of adding a base station and reducing the size of cell sites,which is contemplated, additional channels can be reused by coordinatingthe transmission of signals through multiple antennas in and towards thearea where the additional capacity is required. This approach could alsobe used to adapt to the geographical unevenness in capacity demand usinga fairly even distribution of antennas.

FIG. 2 illustrates an overload condition within a sector of cell Gtransmitting over channel 6, referred to as sector 6, which is shownrelative to the mobile device 12. A selection of antennas neighboringthe target may be redistributed through the frequency reuse contemplatedby the present invention to facilitate increased capacity within theoverloaded sector. This may be accomplished by instructing base stationsneighboring sector 6 of cell G, e.g. cell towers A, B, C, D, E, and F(cell A uses channel 5 as its primary channel in the sector adjoiningcell G such that it is assumed that 5 is serving limited number ofpeople and its resources can be shifted to cell G) to broadcast overadditional channels, which may be referred to as a secondary channel asthey operate in addition to a primary channel to which the correspondingsector is to predominantly communicate. The neighboring or supportingantennas can be arranged to form part of an antenna array to be fed thesame signal in order to alleviate the burdens on the overloaded sector.This multi-antenna configuration results in an aggregate signal of highintensity and high capacity in the target area. Fine tuning of theappropriate delay and amplitude levels relative to each of thesupporting antennas can be calculated to facilitate maintaining desiredsignaling levels.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates theaggregating unit 14 being configured to facilitate assessing overloadconditions and redistributing network resources to ameliorate theoverload condition. In particular, the aggregating unit 14 may beconfigured to instruct the supporting cells to begin transmitting overone or more secondary channels, i.e., channels in addition to theprimary channels already being transmitted from the corresponding cell.The selection of the supporting cells and the signaling strengthsassociated therewith may be controlled by the aggregating unit 14 tolimit interference with other cells. One parameter of particularconsideration when assigning the supporting cells is a frequency reusedistance. The frequency reuse distance generally corresponds with thedistance between a cell broadcasting over a certain channel and a nextclosest cell broadcasting over the same channel.

The frequency re-use distance may be related to a distance in which thesame channel can be re-used because it is deemed that there issufficient separation relative to the next closest cell broadcastingover the same channel to prevent the transmission of one base stationfrom overly impacting the next closest cell tower. FIG. 2 illustrates anintent to increase the capacity in the vicinity of the target symbol 12by re-using channel 5 from supporting base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, Gthat are in close proximity (the added channel 5 is represented with thearrowed lines emanating from the target). The channel 5 may beconsidered to be re-used when broadcasted as a secondary channel or inaddition to the cell's primary channel. The frequency reuse distancecorresponds the distance between cell A and cell I. This distance ismeasured to be √{square root over (21)}R, where R is the cell radius.From the supporting base stations A, B, C, D, E, F, G, only cell A isassigned to use channel 5 under the traditional frequency plan, i.e.,cell A is only one of these cells having its primary channel as channel5.

In the exemplary illustration, there may be six cells (A, B, C, D, E, F)that will be transmitting on channel 5 in addition to cell G in order togenerate the antenna array to support frequency reuse within sector 6 ofcell G. Optionally, less than all six of these cells may be necessary totransmit on channel 5 and achieve suitable power levels. The signalingpower levels and other signaling characteristics for transmissions overchannel 5 of the supporting cells A, B, C, D, E, F, G may be adapted, asdescribed below in more detail, in order to facilitate desired signalingwith the mobile device 12. Channel 5 transmission from cells C and Faffect cell H that also transmits on channel 5. The distance from C andF to H is in both cases is equal to √{square root over (12)}R. Since theradiated power from an antenna varies proportionally to 1/r², it isknown that at the frequency re-use distance for transmission at the samechannel should not unduly interfere with the system performance.Therefore it is known that at r=√{square root over (21)}R the impact onperformance will be negligible. The maximum acceptable aggregate powerlevel from interfering sources of r is proportional to

$\frac{P_{o}}{21R^{2}},$given by the following equation.

$P \propto \frac{P_{o}}{21R^{2}}$

If the transmit power of cells C and F is equal to P₁, then theaggregate power of C and F reaching cell H is proportional to thefollowing equation.

${P(h)} = {\frac{2P_{1}}{12R^{2}} = \frac{P_{1}}{6R^{2}}}$

In order for the power incident on cell H from C and F to be considerednegligible, the following equation must hold.

$\frac{P_{0}}{21R^{2}} \geq \frac{P_{1}}{6R^{2}}$$P_{1} \leq \frac{6P_{o}}{21}$

or about P₁≦0.285 P₀. A transmit power value of 0.25 P₀. For C and Fcells ensures a good margin to avoid interference with cell H. Othercells, which are located further from cell H can transmit at higherpower levels without impacting cells with channel 5 as its primarychannel—cells C and F are shown as worst case scenarios in the exemplaryillustration.

While the power level varies as 1/r², the amplitude varies as 1/r. FromFIG. 2 it is shown that to have acceptable performance the aggregateamplitude level should be not lower than what is received at the edge ofa single antenna approach (i.e., according to the primary channeldistribution). If the transmit amplitude corresponding to a transmitpower of P₀ is A₀ then the amplitude at the edge of the cell and theminimum suitable level has to be proportional to A₀/R. The amplitude isproportional to square root of the power, so for C and F cells in termsof amplitude their transmit amplitudes equal to A₁=0.5 A₀, where A₀ isproportional to the typical transmit amplitude level of a cell thatresults in good performance within the cell. There may not be any placea restriction on amplitude levels on cells A,B,D,E,G since they could inprinciple be at level of A₀. The distances from the different cells tothe target area is in all cases less than 2.5R and can be as low as R.Conservatively, it may be desirable to assume the worst case distance tobe 3R for all cells. The resulting aggregate amplitude (A) from all theselected 7 cells at an amplitude proportional to A₀/2 is equal to

$A = {{7\frac{\frac{A_{0}}{2}}{3R}} = \frac{7A_{0}}{6R}}$

which is greater than A₀/R, ensuring good performance using channel 5.Optionally, use of the actual distances, rather than relying on assumingworst case scenarios for all cells, may result either in higher power(better performance) and/or in the need for lower number of cells.

In this example, without the need to shut down a channel to avoidinterference, the capacity of channel 5 can be added to the targetedsector 12 in cell G even though it was not a channel that in atraditional frequency plan would have corresponded to cell G, i.e.,channel 5 was not the primary channel within corresponding portion ofcell G.

The network capacity redistribution using frequency reuse approachcontemplated by the present invention requires multiple copies of thesame signals to be transmitted between the supporting cells A, B, C, D,E, F, G and the mobile device 12. In other words, in the event themobile device is used to conduct a voice call, the same segment of thevoice call, considered to be the same signals, must be transmitteddifferently between the cells A, B, C, D, E, F, G and the mobile devicein order to ensure a proper transmission within the system. Generally,this may correspond with adjusting an amplitude and/or timing of each ofthe signals as transmitted respectively between the cells A, B, C, D, E,F, G and the mobile device 12 in order to ensure the signals arereceived in-phase and/or synchronized at the aggregating unit 14. Thesynchronized signals may be more beneficial when the signals coming fromall the antennas add constructively, i.e., not only the carrier beingin-phase but the symbols with information also being aligned. This mayinclude the mobile device 12 adjusting an amplitude and timing ofupstream signaling sent to one cell relative to those sent to anothercell in order to ensure the signals are received at the aggregating unitat the same time, i.e., in-phase. (This can be particularly beneficialin preventing echoes and other audible disruption during a phone call.)Similarly, the aggregating unit 14 may adjust amplitude and timing ofdownstream signals sent to one cell for communication to the mobiledevice 12 relative to those same signals sent to another cell forcommunication to the mobile device 12 in order to insure the downstreamsignals are received at the mobile device 12 from each of the cells A,B, C, D, E, F, G at the same time, i.e., synchronized.

The aggregating unit 14, the mobile device 12, or some other entityassociated with the network may be configured to issue instructionssufficient to facilitate instructing the selected antenna elements ofthe cells and/or mobile device to control their amplitude and delay sothat the signaling adds up constructively at the targeted region. Thismay include performing a ranging routine that accommodates for themulti-antenna array used to support channel 5. Accordingly, each of thereceivers in the upstream direction or the transmitters in thedownstream direction may be instructed to adjust its timing or delayoffset and/or its amplitude/power in order to maintain signal integrityacross the entire multi-antenna array.

Following this process of determining for a given sector within a cell asecondary channel which may be added, a group of antennas may beselected such that they transmit at power levels low enough that theaggregate interference does not duly impact any nearby cell using theadded channel, e.g., the interference is less than the thresholdassociated with disrupting communications of the nearby cells. Thetransmit power, however, may be selected to be strong enough so that theaggregate amplitude from all selected is equivalent or greater than whatis typically achieved if channel 5 were a primary channel of cell G.Optionally, a lookup table can be designed so that for different sectorscertain channels can be added when a fixed set of neighboring channelsoperate within a specific transmit power range. This may includereviewing the primary channels of each cell and calculating thecapability of each sector to facilitate various secondary channels. Eachsector may support a secondary channel (or more channels) that is commonto one or more of the primary channels of the other sectors such thatthe lookup table may be comprised of each primary channel the connectedto a second or channel for a given sector.

Block 52 relates to identifying a sector location where extra capacitymay be needed. This may include identifying an overloaded sector or asector that is otherwise determined to require additional capacity inthe future, such as in advance of an event which is likely to result inexceeding a desirable level for that sector. Block 54 relates toassessing one or more secondary channels that may be used within theoverloaded sector, which may be referred to as an overloaded channel.The secondary channel may be selected to operate simultaneously with aprimary channel already being used within the overloaded sector. Thesecondary channel may be selected from a plurality of available channelsto correspond with a secondary channel that is least likely to influenceneighboring base stations. While it is preferable to select a secondarychannel that is least likely to interfere with neighboring basestations, it is not necessarily required that the chosen secondarychannel be the least likely to interfere as some cases may warrant useof other channels, such as if the least likely channel is already in useas a secondary channel by another neighboring base station being used toprovide increased capacity to another area. One optional requirement forselecting a secondary channel may be that a base station cannotbroadcast a secondary channel that is the same as one of its primarychannels, unless it is intended for re-enforcement of a weak primarychannel. (In the illustrated scenario, cell A has channel 5 as a primarychannel, but it is assumed that that sector has little traffic andsuitable for redistribution such that a small portion of channel 5capacity is intended for cell A on channel 5 while a larger portion isintended for the re-distribution of capacity into cell G.)

Block 56 relates to selecting an N number of sectors having capabilitiesto point signals towards the overloaded sector, i.e., those which areadjacent or in the proximity of the overloaded cell. The neighboring andoverloaded sectors may be referred to collectively as supportingsectors. The selected number of supporting sectors may correspond withthe signal strength at which those sectors are able to broadcast theoverload channel without unduly interfering with other neighboringsectors. If sectors are available to transmit at higher power levels,then less sectors may be chosen to broadcast the overload channel,whereas if the sectors are limited in the amount power that can be used,more sectors may be chosen to broadcast the overload channel, i.e., toachieve a desired minimum power threshold. Block 58 relates tocalculating the maximum power for each of the N cells at each of thepossible secondary channels. Block 60 relates to selecting a minimumsubset of M antennas from the available number of antennas to be used inactually broadcasting the overload channel. This selection may be basedon a desired carrier to noise ratio (CNR) for the correspondingaggregation of the related signaling. Block 62 relates to assessingwhether additional channels are required to properly support theoverloaded sector. If additional channels are desired, a similar processis repeated in order to create a second overload channel. If noadditional channels are necessary, the process proceeds.

Block 64 relates to prioritizing the overload channels available forsupporting the overloaded sector. This may occur, for example, in theevent multiple overload channels are available and some assessment needsto be completed in order to allocate use of the supporting sectorsaccording to a prioritized order of the overload channels. This mayinclude arranging the sectors to support certain channels depending on acombination which results in use of the lowest number of supportingcells to meet the desired signaling requirements for each of theoverload channels. Block 66 relates to selecting a P number of overloadchannels that are required to support the overloaded cell, i.e., thenumber of overloaded channels that may be needed such that a sufficientnumber of overload channels are provided to meet the actual or expectedbandwidth requirements. In order to simplify the explanation set forthherein, it is assumed that a single overload channel is to be created.Block 68 relates to notifying end devices, i.e. the mobile devices,which are to begin broadcasting over the overload channel relative(portability mode) to those devices that are to maintain broadcastingover one of the primary channels (mobility mode).

Block 70 relates to allocating the mobile devices to communicate overthe available overload channels and and/or the primary channelsdepending on the determinations made above with respect to whether thedevice is allocated to the portability mode or the mobility mode. Themobile devices may be instructed in advance of entering a phone numberor taking other action that requires consumption of signaling over theoverload channel. This may require the corresponding mobile device totake appropriate action to assure signals are transmitted synchronizedacross the array of antennas to be used in supporting signaling. Block72 relates to identifying the first one of the P number of overloadchannels to be used for certain device is within the overloaded sector.Block 74 relates to those devices which are to begin transmitting overthe selected one of the P number of overload channels to conduct aranging operation or related operations sufficient to assess timingoffsets and other signaling characteristics reflective of its distancefrom each of the sectors with which it will be supporting the overloadchannel.

Block 76 relates to prepending timing offsets and antenna IDs fordownstream signaling, i.e. signaling originating from the backbone andtraveling through the aggregating unit for distribution to each of thesupporting sectors for final synchronized receipt at the mobile device.The antenna IDs may be used to identify the supporting antennas that areto be used in transmitting the signals and the timing offsets may beused to identify relative timing between each of the antennas for whicheach antenna is to broadcast a signal in order to ensure receipt at themobile device in phase. Block 78 relates to each of the supportingantennas extracting the prepended information prior to transmitting thelatest signaling to the mobile device. Block 80 relates to thesupporting antennas delaying transmission signaling in order to ensurethe downstream signals add in phase at the overloaded sector, i.e. atthe corresponding mobile device. Block 82 relates to the mobile deviceperforming a similar process of adjusting timing and/or amplitude inorder to ensure the signals that are communicated from the mobile deviceto each of the supporting antennas arrive at the aggregating unit inphase. Block 84 relates to repeating the process for each mobile devicethat is to transmit over the same or different one of the P number ofavailable overload channels.

As supported above, a cellular network may be configured in accordancewith the present invention to be able to feed different antennas. Acable TV network can also be used to feed the selected antennas. In thecase of a cable network using a centralized distribution system, like aCMTS, it may be easier to coordinate the transmission of the requiredsignal to implement the schemes for the re-distribution of capacityusing ranging capabilities of DOCSIS. These mechanisms may be leveragedto perform the synchronization needed. Since it may be possible that allantennas are fed by the same CMTS, multicasting can also be leveragedfor the implementation of such a system. The wireless technology doesn'thave to be limited to cellular technology but can also include WiFi,WiMAX and other wireless technologies. The various antenna arrayformation as contemplated by the present invention can be very dynamicand the capacity enhancement per location can adaptively follow thecapacity needs, i.e., without having to provide a permanent base stationor other infrastructure.

The invention is predominately described above with respect to use of atri-sector cellular network. However, this methodology also applies to a6-sector implementation or any type of sectorization. This methodologyalso applies with un-sectorized systems. If beam-forming is used, theredistribution of capacity can be more effective as the energy to thedesired target area can be accurately directed and the unwantedillumination to a cell site can be avoided. The present invention is notnecessarily limited to adding a new channel to a cell but can also beused to enhance the efficiency of the cell capacity, such as if the cellmay be that at the edge of the cell or because of a geographiccharacteristic a portion of the cell operates at less than optimalconditions. For example the cell may be operating in 16QAM mode ratherthan 64QAM mode such that adding the contribution of additional signalsynchronized can boost the signal and enhance the efficiency of datatransport.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates amethodology that adds capacity in cellular networks leveraging the useof multiple antennas controlling signal amplitude and delay to achievean enhanced signal in sector beyond traditional frequency re-use plan.Various benefits may be achieved with the present invention, includingan ability to: optimize capacity usage in cellular and non-cellularnetworks, both in opening additional frequency channel as well as toenhance performance in the frequency channels already being used;dynamically support short term capacity needs; enhance coverage in theevent of a geographic impediment or due to restrictive zoningregulations; leverage cable distribution networks for the implementationof cellular services that are more efficient than traditional cellularconfigurations; and enhance in-building wireless capacity bycoordination of access points

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a plurality of cellsconfigured to each facilitate network communications over one or more ofa plurality of channels, each cell having a plurality of sectors overwhich at least one of the plurality of channels is communicated; a unitwith a computer-readable medium having a plurality of non-transitoryinstructions operable therewith to facilitate redistribution of networkcapacity associated with the plurality of channels, the non-transitoryinstructions being sufficient for: i) determining an overloaded sectorof the plurality of sectors, the overloaded sector communicating over afirst channel of the plurality of channels prior to an overload period;ii) instructing the overloaded sector to communicate over the firstchannel and a second channel of the plurality of channels during theoverload period; iii) instructing supporting sectors proximate to theoverloaded sector to communicate over the second channel during theoverload period; and iv) instructing a device within the overloadedsector to simultaneously communicate with the supporting sectors and theoverloaded sector over the second channel during the overload period. 2.The system claim 1 wherein the non-transitory instructions aresufficient for instructing the device to implement upstream parametersfor upstream communications over the second channel, the upstreamparameters specifying conditions at which upstream signals from thedevice are to be communicated over the second channel in order to bereceived with synchronization.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein thenon-transitory instructions are sufficient for defining the upstreamparameters to specify relative timing for the device to transmit theupstream signals to each of the supporting sectors and the overloadedsector.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein the non-transitory instructionsare sufficient for defining the upstream parameters to specify anamplitude at which the device transmits the upstream signals to each ofthe supporting sectors and the overloaded sector.
 5. The system of claim4 wherein the non-transitory instructions are sufficient for limitingthe amplitudes at which the devices transmits the upstream signals overthe second channel to prevent unduly interfering with a next closetsector transmitting at the same frequency as the second channel, thenext closest sector being one of the plurality of sectors not instructedto communicate with the device over the second channel during theoverload period.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the non-transitoryinstructions are sufficient for instructing the supporting sectors andthe overloaded sectors to transmit the second channel at power levelsbelow an interference threshold in order to avoid unduly interferingwith a next closest sector transmitting at the same frequency as thesecond channel, the next closest sector being one of the plurality ofsectors not instructed to communicate with the device over the secondchannel during the overload period.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein thenon-transitory instructions are sufficient for determining theinterference threshold for each of the supporting sectors and theoverloaded sector based on a relative distance to the next closestsector, the interference threshold being independently determined foreach of the supporting sectors and the overloaded sector so as toprevent each from unduly interfering with the next closest sector. 8.The system of claim 1 wherein the non-transitory instructions aresufficient for: instructing the majority of the supporting sectors totransmit over an additional channel of the plurality of channels otherthan the first and second channels at a power level greater than athreshold; and instructing the overloaded sector and the supportingsectors to each transmit the second channel at a power level less thanthe threshold.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the non-transitoryinstructions are sufficient for instructing the supporting sectors toeach transmit the second channel at power levels sufficient for anaggregation of the power levels of all the second channels from thesupporting sectors to be greater than the threshold.
 10. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the non-transitory instructions are sufficient forinstructing the supporting sectors and the overloaded sector toimplement downstream parameters for downstream communications over thesecond channel, the downstream parameters specifying conditions at whichdownstream signals from the supporting sectors and the overloaded sectorare to be communicated over the second channel in order to besynchronized at the device.
 11. The system of claim 1 wherein the cellsare configured to support cellular communications with the device. 12.The system of claim 1 wherein the cells are configured to support Wi-Ficommunications with the device.
 13. The system of claim 1 wherein thenon-transitory instructions are sufficient for determining theoverloaded sector to be one of the sectors where an available bandwidthat the first channel is below a desired minimum threshold.
 14. Thesystem claim 1 wherein the non-transitory instructions are sufficientfor instructing the supporting sectors to communicate over an additionalone of the plurality of channels while communicating over the secondchannel during the overload period.
 15. The system of claim 1 whereinthe non-transitory instructions are sufficient for instructing thedevice to cease communications with the supporting sectors after theoverload period expires while continuing to communicate over theoverloaded sector.
 16. The system of claim 15 wherein the non-transitoryinstructions are sufficient for instructing the device to continuecommunicating with the overloaded sector over the first channel and notthe second channel after the overload period expires, at least until theoverloaded sector experiences another overload period.
 17. The system ofclaim 15 wherein the non-transitory instructions are sufficient forinstructing the device to continue communicating with the overloadedsector over the second channel and not the first channel after theoverload period expires, at least until the overloaded sectorexperiences another overload period.
 18. A computer-readable mediumhaving code stored thereon which operates in cooperation with aprocessor to issue instructions to facilitate redistributing networkcapacity within a network having a plurality of base stations configuredto predominately transmit over at least one of a plurality of primarychannels, the computer-readable medium comprising non-transitoryinstructions to: instruct a first plurality of the base stations totransmit over a secondary channel in order to increase network capacityat an area proximate a device; and implement signal compensationparameters to provide synchronized signaling exchange over the secondarychannel between the first plurality of base stations and the device. 19.The computer-readable medium of claim 15 further comprisingnon-transitory instructions to select at least a majority of the firstplurality of base stations to be the base stations not alreadytransmitting over the secondary channel, thereby requiring at least themajority of the first flared base stations to simultaneously communicateover at least one of the primary channels and the secondary channel. 20.A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a plurality ofinstructions operable with a processor to facilitate redistributingnetwork capacity within a network having a plurality of base stationsconfigured to predominately transmit over one of a plurality of primarychannels, the computer-readable medium comprising non-transitoryinstructions to: identify secondary channels available for an area wherea capacity increase is needed; identify combinations of base stationscapable of supporting the identified secondary channels at an aggregatedsignal strength greater than a threshold; selecting one of secondarychannels from the combinations to be used as an increase capacitychannel in the area; and instruct a device in the area to transmit overthe increased capacity channel.